When carbon fiber is hailed as the 'black gold' of materials, the complete equipment and process for precursor production has long been a bottleneck in China's high-end carbon fiber autonomous supply chain. In August 2026, a 5,000-ton DMSO dry-jet wet-spinning PAN-based precursor equipment and process passed scientific achievement appraisal in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. The overall technology reached international advanced level, with two key indicators—DMSO recovery steam consumption and polymerization reactor temperature uniformity—recognized as internationally leading. This is not merely a single company's technological breakthrough, but a significant signal of the entire carbon fiber industry chain extending toward upstream equipment.
Background
The certified project was jointly developed by Jinggong Technology, Zhejiang Huachuang Carbon Fiber Technology (operator of the provincial manufacturing innovation center), Donghua University, and Zhejiang University of Technology, after two years of intensive research. The appraisal confirmed that the complete equipment and process solved engineering scale-up challenges such as heat transfer lag and local mixing insufficiency in high-viscosity polymerization systems. Among the innovations, the 60m³ large-capacity polymerization reactor achieved temperature uniformity of ±0.4°C, a precision critical for ensuring consistent molecular weight distribution in precursor fibers, which directly determines the stability of mechanical properties in subsequent carbon fibers.
In the spinning stage, the team developed a multi-level symmetrical pressure distribution technology from main pipe to branch pipes to spinning positions, achieving a terminal pressure deviation of ±1% for high-viscosity PAN dope under conditions of 60°C and about 1.6MPa, with spinneret outlet pressure fluctuation as low as 1‰. Meanwhile, the low-temperature coagulation bath temperature was stabilized at 5°C ±0.2°C with liquid level control precision of 3mm ±0.1mm. These seemingly minor parameter fluctuations are significantly amplified at high spinning speeds (process speed of 280m/min), directly affecting the cross-sectional morphology and compactness of fibers.
Industry Impact
Precursor is the core for carbon fiber performance formation, accounting for over 50% of carbon fiber cost. For a long time, China's precursor equipment has been heavily dependent on imports, especially complete sets for dry-jet wet-spinning process, constraining the localization of high-end carbon fibers (e.g., T800 grade and above). The certification of this 5,000-ton equipment means domestic enterprises now possess the capability for large-scale, high-consistency precursor production. This will directly reduce costs and improve efficiency for downstream carbon fiber composite applications in aerospace, wind turbine blades, hydrogen storage tanks, and more.
More noteworthy is the breakthrough in DMSO solvent recovery system. Data shows the project achieved a DMSO recovery rate of no less than 99.5%, steam consumption no higher than 2.2t/t, recovery purity of 99.88%, and residual solvent in wastewater less than 100ppm. In carbon fiber production costs, solvent accounts for a significant share, and environmental pressure is increasing. This internationally leading indicator means production costs per ton of precursor can be substantially reduced, while greatly alleviating hazardous waste treatment burdens, clearing obstacles for large-scale and green carbon fiber production.
From an industrial cluster perspective, Shaoxing in Zhejiang has long been an important agglomeration for chemical fiber and textile equipment. The landing of this certification result in Shaoxing will strengthen the region's first-mover advantage in carbon fiber precursor equipment, potentially attracting upstream and downstream supporting enterprises to cluster, forming a complete equipment industry chain from polymerization reactors, spinning machines to solvent recovery systems. For carbon fiber producers, the maturity of domestic equipment means lower investment thresholds, avoiding high premiums and long delivery times of imported equipment, allowing more flexible capacity expansion.